2001 Ford Escape

11 Defect Investigations from the NHTSA

NHTSA Defect Investigations for the 2001 Ford Escape

The Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) is an office within the NHTSA which investigates serious safety problems in the design, construction or performance of vehicles.
The NHTSA is authorized to order manufacturers to recall and repair vehicles, if the ODI finds a safety issue.
NHTSA investigations for the 2001 Ford Escape, both ongoing and closed, are listed below:

ENGINE STALLING NHTSA Defect Investigation #RP04002

Status:

CLOSED

Date Opened: June 24, 2004

Date Closed: August 31, 2004

Recall: no recall issued

Component(s): Engine And Engine Cooling

Summary: Summary:the petitioner alleges that after having the recall remedy performed on her model year (MY) 2001 Ford Escape, it continued to exhibit an intermittent stall condition.consequently, she petitioned the Agency to examine the adequacy of the recall remedy for safety recall 04V-165.on April 5, 2004, Ford Motor Company (Ford) notified the Agency that it would conduct a recall of 321,903 MY 2001 through 2002 and certain 2003 my Escape vehicles equipped with 3.0L engines manufactured between January 21, 2000 and September 11, 2002 at the Kansas City assembly plant.these vehicles exhibited an intermittent engine stall during decelerations at vehicle speeds below 40 mph due to an excessively rich fuel-air mixture in the engine.as a remedy, Ford dealers are instructed to reprogram the powertrain control module (PCM) to a revised calibration to prevent the stalling condition. In its July 23, 2004 response to the Office Of Defects Investigation's (ODI) July 1, 2004 information request letter, Ford states that as of June 30, 2004 the recall remedy has been completed on 174,014 vehicles.additionally, only a small number of vehicle owners (less than.1%) who have had the remedy performed on their vehicles have had additional deceleration stalling issues.Ford also states that the PCM has to żlearnż the new program and that any subsequent stalling would be temporary.to verify Ford's claim, ODI conducted a random survey of 20 complainants who had the remedy performed on their vehicles and who experienced a subsequent stalling event.ODI found that most of them had isolated stalling problems, supporting Ford's allegation that the PCM must żlearnż the new program.in addition, in a phone conversation with ODI, the petitioner stated that a Ford engineer found a faulty ignition switch as the cause of the stalling in her vehicle.thus, there is no evidence at this time to suggest the recall remedy is inadequate.for the foregoing reasons, further expenditure of the Agency's investigative resources on the issue raised by the petitioner does not appear to be warranted and the petition is denied.

ENGINE STALLING NHTSA Engineering Analysis #EA02027

Summary: Ford's and Mazda's letters to NHTSA dated April 5 and April 9, 2004, state that they will recall model year 2001-03 Ford Escape and Mazda tribute vehicles with the V6 engine built thru September 11, 2002.dealers will adjust engine calibration in the programmable control module (PCM), which in its current setting, can cause the engine to shut down if the vehicle is decelerating at speeds below 40 mph. The engine shuts down due to "excessively rich air-fuel mixtures being sent to the engine."when the engine shuts down, drivers may notice a loss of power assist for their steering and brakes. The majority of the complainants have indicated to the Agency that the stall is intermittent and can happen more than once.

SAFETY BELT BUCKLE FAILURE NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation #PE03030

Summary: This investigation was opened on July 14, 2003 based on 4 reports alleging the driver's safety belt buckle failed to latch or remain latched.Mazda notified ODI that it transferred engineering responsibility to Ford when the vehicle design was brought to the United States for production in Ford's assembly plants.Ford determined that the safety belt buckle is subject to lateral flexing during use that could allow a portion of the buckle cable stalk convolute tubing that extends into the buckle assembly to contact the molded plastic "anti-rattle" post on the upper buckle cover.this contact may cause the post to fatigue and fracture, allowing the backside of the latch to wedge below the broken edge of the post.in this orientation, the broken post may hinder the intended rotation of the latch during insertion of the latch plate resulting in a no-latch or false-latch condition.Ford's supplier autoliv, Inc. Provided buckle covers without the "anti-rattle" post beginning in October 2000.recall scope:the affected vehicles are 2001 model year Ford Escape and Mazda tribute built at the claycomo (Kansas City), Missouri assembly plant through May 31, 2001.recall remedy:Ford-Lincoln-Mercury and Mazda dealers, respectively, will replace both driver and front passenger safety belt buckle covers with newly designed service buckle covers.accordingly, this investigation is closed.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation #PE06048

Summary: In letters dated March 30, 2007, Ford and Mazda notified NHTSA that they will conduct safety recalls to remedy a safety defect that may result in fire in a wiring connector used in certain model year (MY) 2001-2004 Ford Escape and Mazda tribute sport utility vehicles equipped with ABS.recall 07V-156 involves approximately 446,450 MY 2001-2004 Escape vehicles manufactured from October 22, 1999 through January 23, 2004.recall 07V-157 involves approximately 95,300 MY 2001-2004 tribute vehicles manufactured from April 17, 2000 through December 19, 2003. According to the manufacturers, the electrical wiring connectors to the ABS electronic control module were manufactured with wire seals missing or improperly installed in some wiring harnesses used in the recall populations.this may allow environmental contaminants such as water or brake fluid to enter the ABS electrical connector interface and cause corrosion of the electrical terminals.such corrosion may result in an illuminated ABS telltale, an open circuit, and/or an engine compartment fire originating at the electrical connector.to remedy the defect, the manufacturers will inspect the connectors for seal integrity.if a seal integrity issue is identified the vehicle will be repaired as necessary.all vehicles will have dielectric grease applied to the connectors to further reduce the possibility of contaminants entering the electrical connectors. To date, ODI is aware of 120 non-crash related fire incidents alleged to have originated in the engine compartment at or near the ABS electronic control module in the subject vehicles, which represent approximately 80 percent of the recall population.of the 120 alleged fires, 6 are alleged to have occurred when the vehicle was parked inside a garage structure.in 4 incidents, complainants alleged the structure or adjoining structure(s) suffered smoke damage, while in 2 incidents, the alleged fires caused more extensive damage totaling approximately $50,000 each.there are no known injuries or fatalities related to the alleged defect.based on the Ford and Mazda recalls, this investigation is closed.

Engine Compartment Fire NHTSA Engineering Analysis #EA10002

Summary: Ford and Mazda recalled model year (MY) 2001 through 2004 Ford Escape (07V-156) and Mazda Tribute (07V-157) vehicles due to non-crash fires or non-fire thermal events originating in the engine compartment at or near the ABS control module.Approximately 545,700 vehicles were subject to the initial safety recalls and approximately 424,700 vehicles were serviced under those campaigns. The campaigns addressed potentially damaged, missing or misplaced seals in the ABS control module wiring harness electrical connector that could allow brake fluid to enter the connector, possibly resulting in corrosion, short-circuit, melting, smoke and/or fire.Since the recall, the agency is aware of 260 subject vehicles that have reportedly experienced non-crash fires or non-fire thermal events originating at or near the ABS control module in vehicles some time after being serviced under the campaign. The post-recall repair incident rates for MY 2001 and 2002 subject vehicles are 90.9 and 126.7 (normalized per 100,000 vehicles serviced under the recall campaigns), respectively.These rates are much higher than the post-recall repair incident rate for MY 2003 and 2004 subject vehicles, which are 5.0 and 3.7 per 100K, respectively.Similarly, the post-recall repair key-off fire incident rates in the MY 2001 and 2002 subject vehicles is 54.3 per 100K, compared to 0.5 per 100K for the MY 2003 and 2004 subject vehicles.The agency is aware of 12 key-off fire incidents, all involving MY 2001 and 2002 subject vehicles, where the vehicle was parked inside a structure when the fire started.In five of those incidents, the fire spread from the vehicle to the structure itself.Ford has identified the brake master cylinder reservoir cap in certain MY 2001 and 2002 subject vehicles as a potential source for brake fluid leaks that could affect ABS module connector integrity.The reservoir caps used on the MY 2003 and 2004 subject vehicles are reportedly an improved design from those used on the earlier models.By letter dated January 4, 2012, Ford notified the agency that it would conduct another safety recall (identified by NTHSA Recall No. 12V-005 and Ford Recall No. 11S24) of certain MY 2001 and 2002 Ford Escape vehicles to perform a more thorough remedy to address the risk of fire originating at the ABS control module.In addition to double-checking the ABS control module wiring harness electrical connector weather seal (which should have been addressed under the previous recall campaign), Ford will replace brake master cylinder reservoir caps to address the leaking cap problem and reduce the risk of brake fluid entering the subject electrical connector.Ford will also modify the electrical system such that the ABS control module is de-energized when the ignition key is switched off to further reduce the risk of an unattended vehicle fire in units that may have sustained some small loss of connector integrity that may not be evident upon visual examination.Similarly, Mazda notified the agency by letter dated January 19, 2012, that it would also conduct a safety recall (identified by NTHSA Recall No. 12V-016 and Mazda Recall No. 6712A) of certain MY 2001 and 2002 Mazda Tribute vehicles.Ford estimates repair parts will be available beginning the second quarter of 2012. Until recall repairs are made both Ford and Mazda are advising owners of affected vehicles to reduce the safety concern by parking their vehicles outdoors away from structures to prevent a potential fire from spreading.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE NHTSA Defect Investigation #RQ09002

Status:

CLOSED

Date Opened: April 15, 2009

Date Closed: January 15, 2010

Recall: no recall issued

Component(s): Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock:Control Unit/Module

Summary: In letters dated March 30, 2007, Ford Motor Company (Ford) and Mazda North american operations (Mazda) notified the Agency that they will conduct recalls 07V-156 and 07V-157, respectively, to remedy a safety defect that may result in fire in a wiring connector used in certain model year (MY) 2001-2004 Ford Escape and Mazda tribute vehicles equipped with ABS.the recall campaign prescribes an inspection of the subject components, which shall be repaired or replaced only if necessary.if the subject vehicle passes the visual inspection then the recall instructs the technician to apply electrical grease (Ford part number xg-12) to the ABS module connector and verify system operation.to date, approximately 388,500 subject vehicles (71.7% of the total recall population) have been serviced under the recall campaign, the vast majority of which (373,985) passed the visual inspection and received only the electrical grease applied to the ABS module connector. The Agency is aware of at least 86 unique subject vehicles that have reportedly experienced non-crash fire incidents originating in the engine compartment at or near the ABS control module some time after the vehicle was serviced under the subject recall.the manufacturer has provided some information that indicates certain vehicles were improperly serviced under the subject recall as evidenced by the factory wire tie-wrap not being removed from the wiring harness (which indicates a proper inspection could not have been performed) and by incorrect grease being applied, incorrect amounts of grease, and even instances where no grease was applied to the ABS module connector.also, there remain some questions regarding the severity of the reported fire incidents.the manufacturer contends that most reported fires were actually non-fire thermal events with damage limited to the subject components and that most vehicles are repaired and returned to service.however, the trend appears to be ongoing with 5 reported incidents having occurred in the past 6 months.accordingly, this recall query has been upgraded to an engineering analysis to further assess the effectiveness of the recall remedy.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE NHTSA Defect Investigation #DP09003

Status:

CLOSED

Date Opened: April 14, 2009

Date Closed: April 15, 2009

Recall: no recall issued

Component(s): Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock:Control Unit/Module

Summary: The Office Of Defects Investigation (ODI) received a defect petition dated March 5, 2009 alleging that the petitioner never received the recall remedy for 07V-156 and that, as a result, the petitioner's MY2003 Ford Escape caught fire at the ABS control module.in response to ODI follow-up, the manufacturer verified that the petitioner's vehicle had in fact received service related to safety recall 07V156 - a fact later corroborated by the petitioner.circumstances of the fire experienced in the petitioner's remedied vehicle indicate that the remedy was ineffective.additional review by ODI identified an additional 6 similar (alleged to have originated in the engine compartment at or near the ABS control module ) non-crash fire incidents in subject vehicles known to have received the recall remedy.accordingly, a recall query (RQ09-002) has been opened to assess the effectiveness of the recall remedy.

Summary: On November 18, 2010, NHTSA's Recall Management Division (RMD) opened an audit query (AQ10-001) to investigate recall remedy completion by rental car companies on safety recall campaigns.It was expected to provide the agency an indication of how completely and how quickly rental car fleets perform necessary recall-related remedies on the vehicles owned and then rented/leased for use on the roadways.RMD queried three (3) major motor vehicle manufacturers (Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors) and requested data regarding completion figures for fifteen (15) discreet safety recalls.Analysis of this data demonstrated that rental car recalls completion was neither complete nor consistent.The rental car companies representing the largest market share in the industry were then queried as to their respective policies for the rental, lease, and sale of vehicles with open recalls.The data and responses from the manufacturers and the rental car companies can be found in the document repository by accessing the ""Associated Documents" link above.In December 2015, Congress enacted the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.One section of the Act prohibits rental car companies from renting, leasing, or selling motor vehicles subject to open safety recalls.With the passage of the FAST Act and its prohibition, there is no continuing need for the agency to investigate rental car recall completions.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The agency reserves the right to open any future investigations, including audits of individual recalls, or groups of recalls, or rental car companies, to examine more closely safety recalls performance and completion issues in this area.

Stuck Throttle NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation #PE12019

Summary: In a letter dated July 25, 2012 Ford Motor Company (Ford) submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR), NHTSA Recall No. 12V-353 to NHTSA identifying a safety defect involving inadequate clearance between the engine cover and the speed control cable connector, which could result in a stuck throttle condition.The vehicles involved are model year (MY) 2001 through MY 2004 Ford Escape vehicles equipped with 3.0L V6 engines and speed (cruise) control.A redesigned engine cover was implemented in production beginning in MY 2005, which provided additional clearance of the speed control cable to the engine cover.Similarly on July 26, 2012 Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) on behalf of Mazda Motor Corporation of Hiroshima, Japan submitted a DIR to NHTSA, NHTSA Recall No. 12V-357, identifying the safety defect described above in MY 2001 through MY 2006 and MY 2008 Mazda Tribute vehicles (no Tribute vehicles were produced in MY 2007) equipped with 3.0L V6 engines and speed control.Unlike the Ford Escape recall scope, the Mazda Tribute scope is broader as Mazda Tribute vehicles incorporated a similar engine cover design as related to the clearance to the speed control cable in MYs 2001 through 2006 and MY 2008.The failure report summary above reflects reports identified by ODI in review of data submitted to the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) and reports submitted to Ford and to Mazda.ODI identified 44 reports likely related to the safety defect described in the DIRs; 39 involving Ford Escape vehicles and 5 involving Mazda Tribute vehicles. This Preliminary Evaluation is closed.The ODI report cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification (ODI) numbers: 10116267, 10128545, 10128681, 10137520, 10153327, 10165007, 10199728, 10234846, 10335779, 10466261, and 10468307.

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